Category Nutrition & Dietary Patterns

sweet potatoes

What are the benefits of eating sweet potatoes?

To the anonymous, generous individual who put out a bucket of free sweet potatoes that I ran into while walking around town one day: thanks for sharing this superfood with your neighbors! All potatoes are not created equal.  If I…

low-residue diet

Stomach issues? Maybe a low-residue diet can help

A low-residue diet is low in fibers, particularly indigestible fibers.  It also limits high-fat foods.  When you’re having intestinal issues, fiber and fat may be harder for your digestive tract to process.  The goal of this diet is to rest the…

meat

How much meat is too much? | NYP Health Matters

A new study found that meat-heavy diets can lead to premature death.  How much meat per day is too much? How does eating meat lead to illness? Does the kind of meat consumed matter? How will cutting back on meat affect…

juicing

Is juicing good for you?

Table sugar, or sucrose, is made of glucose and fructose.  The same glucose and fructose is also found in fruit, like apples.  So why is table sugar so much worse for you? It all comes down to how your body…

fasting

Is intermittent fasting healthy?

Fasting to improve health has been around for thousands of years, with early support from Hippocrates and Plato.  From an evolutionary perspective, our habit of having three meals a day (plus snacks) is abnormal.  For much of human history, access…

meal planning

A minimalist grocery shopping list

Below is a list of foods that can get you through a wide variety of plant-based eating.  You can make nearly any type of cuisine with these ingredients, and you can stock up on them so that you only need…

fiber

Fiber: how much and which kinds should you get?

What is fiber? Fiber is a carbohydrate.  But unlike other carbohydrates, it can’t be broken down and absorbed by your body.  It’s the part of plant foods that is not digested by the small intestine and instead arrives in the…

how food affects gut microbiome

How the food you eat affects your gut | TED-Ed

The bacteria in our guts can break down food the body can’t digest, produce important nutrients, regulate the immune system, and protect against harmful germs. And while we can’t control all the factors that go into maintaining a healthy gut…